- This time last year it took 23 days to lease a property in Busselton
- Nine days faster to lease a property compared to Perth
- REIWA President calls for more private rental stock across the State
Busselton, 220km south of Perth, is Western Australia’s fastest regional centre with data from the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) showing that 11 days is the median time to lease a rental in the area.
This makes the median time to lease in Busselton 12 days faster than the same time in 2020 and nine days faster than Perth.
Damian Collins, REIWA’s President, says the rental shortage has sharply increased house prices for the popular holiday town.
“Property investors in the Busselton regional centre are finding tenants for their rentals quicker than any other regional centre in the state,”
“The speed at which vacant rentals are being tenanted has a lot to do with the reduction of available rental properties in the area due to the rental shortage affecting the state.”
“This has caused increased competition among tenants in Busselton and put upwards pressure on the regional centre’s median rent price, which increased by $100 a week to $500 when compared to the three months to February 2020.”
Damian Collins, REIWA President
The same data shows Albany and Bunbury also have median leasing times below that of Perth with both regional cities recording a median leasing time of 16 days.
Of the ten individual suburbs that experienced the fastest median leasing times in the three months leading to February 2021, three were from the Bunbury regional centre with the remaining four located in the South West region.
Australind, Eaton and Bridgetown were the top three fastest median leasing suburbs for the three months to February 2021.
Despite the booming mining industry, Karratha’s median leasing day for the three months to February 2021 is still 32 days – longer than the same time in February 2021 when it was 29 days – however the median rent is $700 per week compared to Perth’s $420 per week.
Mr Collins concluded by remarking more private rental stock is needed to to assist tenants.
“Regional WA, like Perth, is suffering from a rental shortage and needs an influx of investor activity to inject more private rental stock into the market and help house the growing number of tenants across the state who are searching for a rental.”
Damian Collins, REIWA President